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Monday, 25 August 2014

Here in the UK today was the late summer bank holiday and as often seems to happen the day in London was a complete washout. It was raining when I woke up and hasn't stopped for most of the day. In fact at 10.30 this evening we were finally able to take Scamp for a walk without getting wet. Originally our plans for today had involved a walk but John remembered that he had agreed to help remove the flats from the stage at the church hall so the rain didn't spoil our day. There were five of us doing the job although one person had to leave early as they had another engagement. The whole process took 3 and a half hours (or 16 hours if you take the number of people doing the job).The final job was completed this afternoon when John and I went back to unscrew the picture that sits behind the doors on the back flat. When not covered up for alternative scenery it looks like the doors lead into the garden.

The stage is quite a big space when empty. The floor is in desperate need of a good sanding and finishing. Last year I got a huge splinter down the side of my finger nail from it and several others have been injured. The floor is being sanded and finished tomorrow and at the weekend the bits all need to go back.

At present they are resting at the back of the church hall covered by the stage curtains.

It doesn't look much having finished the job. There was a remarkable amount of heavy wood and other bits stored behind the flats and this all had to be moved. We managed to find homes for everything elsewhere. Once we put everything back in its place I will take a photo of the stage since I forgot a before picture.Yesterday I went through my project bags and found that I hadn't fully stitched the green hexi block for the Rainbow Scrap challenge from a couple of months ago. I finished this up whilst watching the second Hobbit film.

I had to hunt around for the backing fabric. I still need to make the red and yellow hexi blocks.

I hunted for some brighter green fabric for this months blocks and found this to make the hexi block. I still need some more fabric for the nine patch blocks.

I'll finish this one up tomorrow evening if I can find a good film to watch.Tomorrow I plan on starting the quilting on the quilt I'm making for Hannah. This is one of my projects for the 'See you in September' blog hop. My day is the 4th September so you'll have to wait until then to see the completed quilt. If I have time I also have a new project I want to start.For now I'm heading off to bed as it is 11.52 and I'm rather sleepy. I'm hoping that by the time I wake up I will have decided on the colour scheme for my next quilt. Did I tell you that the other morning I woke up from a dream in which I was stroking some beautiful fabric to find myself gently stroking the edge of the duvet. Does this mean I've been overdoing the sewing?.........Lyndsey

Friday, 22 August 2014

I was looking through a cupboard yesterday checking out the contents of the various bags and boxes when I came across a bag I had completely forgotten about. The bag contained an almost made summer dress and a partly sewn blouse. I'm not sure why they had been relegated to the depths of the cupboard but on closer inspection I found the dress only needed the buttonholes made and the buttons sewn on. I have vague memories that around the time I'd been making the dress a little argument had blown up along the lines of 'all you're interested in doing is sewing'. Not a comment I hear these days as John realises I'm much calmer and happier when I'm sewing, knitting or generally being creative. Anyway today I reminded myself how the buttonhole stitch on my machine worked and then got the dress finished. The pattern is by McCalls. I've used it before and it makes a comfortable well fitting dress that is great for wearing to work.

I can't show you a photo of me wearing the dress as there is no one around to take the picture. When I wear it I'll get John to take a photo. I hope the weather stays warm a little longer so I can get some wear out of it this year. I really should have pressed it before I took the photo. I know this isn't a quilty finish but it is a finish so I'm linking up with Link a finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts.

The blouse is still in the project bag untouched. I have some mending I need to get done before I start on it. I also prepared Hannah's quilt ready for quilting and need to get that done. Do you want a sneak peek? This is the fabric I chose for the backing. Hannah loves her music and I know she'll like the fabric.

I was going to make the blocks for this months Rainbow Scrap challenge. The colour is green. Earlier in the year there was a green month but that was dark green. This month is light bright green and I don't seem to have any scraps matching that remit. I need to do some swapping with my friends. Last weekend I started some peach wine. Today I moved it into the demijohn and it is bubbling nicely. It is very cloudy at the moment but over the next few weeks that will settle and I'll syphon the wine into a clean jar (racking). It will gradually clear over the next few months and after being racked a few more times. I'm hoping to buy some peaches tomorrow to make peach chutney and then once our apples are fully ripe I'll make some apple chutney. We have two apple trees, a Cox's Orange Pippin and a Egremont Russet . The Cox's is loaded with fruit but the other only has a few apples. Last year it was the other way round.It's nearly bedtime here in the UK so I'm going to knit a few rows of John's jumper whilst I catch up with the news on TV and then I'm off to bed. I'm hoping to get some quilting done tomorrow. Sweet dreams when bedtime comes to your part of the world.Lyndsey

Monday, 18 August 2014

I started the quilt for Hannah yesterday or rather I started the cutting stage. I needed a lot of 2 and a half inch squares in a range of colours and patterns. I had a jelly roll of solid colours but I wanted to use some of my scraps. Hannah will recognise several of the scraps as fabrics we used when making the prem baby quilts. I also needed a pile of six and a half inch squares. That job didn't take long so I've been able to start the sewing. This is a start and finish quickly quilt as Hannah's last week with us at Guides is the 17th September. The following week she starts at University.

On the 21st July I started a diet and exercise plan. I've cut out cakes and sugary things and generally being more careful on what I eat. I've found it's about making choices - yes I would like the chocolate cake but I'll have a piece of fruit instead. I have also increased my exercise and the great thing about that is that you can have chocolate cake occasionally. Anyway the great news is that I've lost 9 lbs in 4 weeks and I haven't felt hungry at all. I do feel tired from the extra exercise but the knock on effect is I sleep like a log, in fact I've started going to bed earlier. This is good as I would often only get 5 hours sleep.

In preparation for the new me I decided to cut out a couple of patterns in the next size down. I thought of waiting until I am down to my ideal weight but decided a girl needs a treat to keep her on the straight and narrow. Plus I've had the fabric in my dressmaking stash for ages and the garment can easily be altered later. I've had the pattern for a while and made the blouse and tunic top for several people but never for me.

I'm taking part in the See you in September blog hop at Sew We Quilt and the quilt and blouse will be part of my projects. We have to make something using Riley Blake gingham and I'm looking forward to getting started on that.

Yesterday I also made some jam. When out and about in town I found that the peaches (and nectarines) were super cheap and large and juicy. I decided to make some peach jam and also start some peach wine. Going back a few years I regularly made jams and pickles but got out of the habit. Barbara at Cat Patches got me started again. I've been following her blog for a couple of years and she bottles fruit and pickles. Reading her blog reminded me of the pleasure of homemade chutneys and jams.I used the recipe from In Jennie's Kitchen for the jam and the wine recipe was from Wine making guides I used to have a great wine making recipe book for country wines but vaguely remember giving it to a friend. Not a problem with friend internet at hand. I have a large ironing mountain that I'm ploughing my way through so I'm off to iron a few more items so I can reward myself with some stitching. Mmm a good film and a little hand stitching sound like a perfect evening.Lyndsey

Saturday, 16 August 2014

Having not done much sewing through June and July I was hopeful that August would be more productive but I had forgotten that we had a Brownie and Guide Camp. As a result it's now 16th of the month and my many projects are looking dejected and unloved. However all that is about to change as I am now on holiday. I have a couple of days I need to go into work early in September but I don't start back in full swing until September 22nd. Our camp was brilliant and the weather couldn't have been better. It rained one night after we had gone to bed and was all dry by the morning. The 18 girls we took got on well and enjoyed the activities. I had taken some hand sewing with me but it never came out of my bag. Likewise my book didn't get read. When we weren't enjoying activities such a hiking, climbing and archery we sat and talked to each other which was very pleasurable.Over the next few days Lucy and I will organise the meetings for the next term based on the choices the girls made before the holiday. We will also organise our indoor holiday planned for November. Before that gets done I have lots of cutting out to do as I want to make a quilt for our Young Leader Hannah. She was 18 back in June and starts university in September. She joined my unit when she was 5 and has gone through all the age ranges. It will be hard to say goodbye after all this time but she plans on coming back for camps and trips.On a sewing note I have a finish that I haven't posted. Lauren commissioned me to make a quilt for her daughter Grace. She provided the fabrics and she wanted different sized blocks of colour. I decided to make a disappearing nine patch and both she and I were very pleased with the result.

Scamp thought he'd crash the photo as usual. The quilt is for a twin bed. I didn't take a photo of the back. I cut strips of the fabrics used in the front and pieced the back. Both sides look pretty. As you can see I did a large meander to quilt it.In the background you can see where I've started to take the paper off the walls. I'm hoping to get the bedroom decorated before I go back to work. It hasn't been done in some time so is in dire need of a revamp.I'm linking this post with Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilt. I'm hoping to have another finish next week.For now I'm back to my cutting so I can start the sewing tomorrow. I hope you're all having a good summer.Lyndsey